Fowl mating saddle



May 22, 1951 c. NEELY FOWL MATING SADDLE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 11, 1949 y 22, 1951 c. L. NEELY 2,553,864

F'OWL MATING SADDLE Filed April 11, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 22, 1951 UNITED PATENT OFFICE 8 Claims.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a protective covering for the back of female fowls which is easily and quickly attached or detached and which serves to prevent the fowl from being scratched or torn in mating.

A further object of this invention is to provide a protective covering for the back of a female fowl for use during the mating process, which covering will fit snugly to the fowl and is prevented from slipping, becoming loose or accidentally detached by a lockingmeans on each of the wing straps.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a protective covering as set forth above which is free from metal parts of any kind, such as hooks, snaps or buckles.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a protective covering or saddle for the back of a female fowl that will cause a minimum 1 of irritation to said fowl but which will remain firmly attached thereto, even during windy days.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a protective covering for the back of a female fowl for use during the mating process, which covering provides toe-hold and traction straps for the male.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a protective covering for female fowls that is economical in manufacture and durable enough to be usable for several seasons.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of my fowl saddle.

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan View of my fowl saddle.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side View of my invention taken from the line 3--3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged side view of a portion of my device, illustrated similarly to Fig. 3, and shows parts thereof in open position. 4

Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectionalview of my device taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of my invention in place on the back of a female fowl.

A serious problem in the commercial raising of fowl such as turkeys is the fact that hens-are frequently scratched and torn both in body and feather by the male during the mating process with a resultant loss in revenues from the. sale of said hens dueto the fact that some hens so injured die and others are graded down commercially so as to bring in less revenue than those not so injured. Some attempts to overcome this have been made by the use of coverings or saddles but such attempts have not been entirely successful because of the difficulty involved in attaching and detaching such saddles, and for the further reasons that saddles now in use have a tendency to become loosened or detached, do not fit snugly and properly and therefore cause considerable irritation and damage to the fowl by rubbing. I have overcome these objections as will hereinafter be appreciated.

Referring to the drawings I have used the numeral ill to designate a flat circular turtle shaped covering. This may be made from any durable material such as duck, canvas or the like. The sides are rounded and the front forward edge is provided with three arcs or concave portions l2, l3 and M, as shown in Fig. l and Fig. 2, the center are [3 fitting around the back of the neck and the side arcs l2 and I4 fitting around the left and right wing respectively of a female fowl, as shown in Fig. 6. The rear end of the covering is straight. The entire marginal edge of the cov- 1 ering Ill is turned under toward the underside sufliciently to allow it to be double stitched. The purpose of this double stitching is to do away with any tape or binding that might come loose and cause the fowl to become tangled up therein. On the outer or top side of the covering It there are placed two back straps l8 and IQ for the left and right side respectively and two wing straps 2t] and H for the left and right side respectively. These straps may be made from any durable material and the back and wing strap for each respective side, [8 and 29 for the left and I9 and H for the right, is made from one continuous piece of material which is formed by folding one half of the material used back upon the other half so as to make a strap of two thicknesses of said material. The left back strap it extends from a rear point, left of center on the top of the covering it forwardly and inwardly so as to bisect the forward point of covering id between arcs l2 and I3, as shown in Fig. l. The wing strap 20 extends forwardly, outwardly and rearwardly in an arc to form an enclosed space between itself and arc l2. It then passes through a loop 22 located on the left forward side of the covering I9, then continuing parallel and adjacent to the underside of the outer edge of the left side of covering [3 where it is bar-tacked thereto at a side point substantially midway between the. rear and front end of said covering, as shown in Fig. 2.

The right back strap l9 extends from a rear point right of center on the top of the covering forwardly and inwardly so as to bisect the forward point on covering H3 between arcs l3 and i i. The wing strap 2! continues forwardly, outwardly and then rearwardly in an arc in the same manner as described for the left back wing strap 20. It is attached to the right center side of covering ill in a like manner as the wing strap 2% after loosely passing'through its loop 22 located at the right side edge'of the covering. In placing these two tube loops 22, I recommend that they be positioned just to the rear of the two concave por tions 12 and M of the covering. The back straps l8 and is are double stitched throughout their entire length to covering Id. The doublethick.- ness of the left wing strap 26 which is anextene sion of the double thickness back strap 18 is stitched together only at the bottom or open.

edges of the double thickness from a point where it extends upwardly and outwardly from covering 1.0 to where it is tacked to the side of covering I9 and the right wing strap 2! is stitched in a like manner. The purpose of this stitching on only one edge is to provide a cushion on the top edge of said wing straps 2G and 2| that will eliminate chafed wings. The. small loops 22 through which the wing straps 2G and 2| pass may be made from the same material as the back. straps l8 and i9 and are formed by folding half of a short length of said material back upon itself with one end placed on the top side of covering I0 and one end on the underside of covering 10 and stitching the three surfaces together, as shown in Fig. 5. The loops 22 should be: large enough to allow free passage of the wing straps 20- and 2|, but not large enough to allow free and easy passage of said wing straps when an extra thickness of strap of like material is added to therear thereof, and which will now be described. On the left wing strap 2 3 between the point-where said strap is tacked to'the underside of the covering 10 and forwardly to loop 22 and on the underside of said wing strap 26 there is placed another section of strap 2Q which is bar-tacked at its extremities to the wing strap 29, as shown in Fig. 3. This additional strap 25 may be made from the same material as the wing strap 2!}. The purpose of this additional strap 24 is to provide an extra thickness for that portion of the wing strap 2i! between the loop 22 and the tacked end of said strap, as shown in Fig. 3, and thereby creating a locking device on the wing strap 29 due to the fact that the portion of the wing strap 23 having said multiple thickness will not freely move upwards through the loop 22 and thereby locks in place the wing strap 20 after it is attached and prevents it from becoming loose. The right wing strap 21 is provided with an extra thickness of material 24 in the same manner and fashion as above described for the left wing strap 29. On the top side of covering it there has been placed two additional transverse straps between the back straps l8 and i9; One of said additional straps 25 is placed near the top of covering it and the other 26 near the bottom of said covering it, as shown in Fig. 1. These straps 25 and 26 are double-stitched to covering it and serve not only as a reinforcement for the saddle but also as a non-slip toe-hold. and traction strap for the male.

This saddle has no snaps, buckles or metal parts to engage or disengage in either attaching or detaching and is easily used as follows:

To prepare the saddle for attaching, the loops 22v are manually spread open and that portion 4 of the wing straps 20 and 2| having attached thereto the extra thickness of the straps 24 are pushed or pulled forwardly through the loops 22 until the rear tacked ends of said wing straps approach the loops 22, as shown in Fig. 4. This will enlarge the enclosure formed by wing strap 20 and are [2 and the enclosure formed by wing strap 2! and the arc !4, thereby making it easy to slip the wings of the fowl through the respective collars formed by the wing: strapsand the respective arcs. Once the wing straps are in place around the wings, the wing straps 2E! and 21 are drawn rearwardly through the loops 22 to their original position, as shown in Fig. 3 and are automatically locked in place since the multiple thickness of said straps will not normally pass through the loops 22 without using an applied force' to enlarge said loop 22 and draw the-straps forwardly. The saddle is easily detached by enlarging the size of the areas enclosing the wings in the same manner as for attaching. The portions 24 act as latch means for preventing the slipping action of the wing straps forwardlyv through the loops 22 except when manually manipulated. Also theflexible stiffness of the covering aids in holding the wing straps rearwardly against accidental forward slipping movement. The rear end of the cover 58 is cut substantially straight across, as shown in Fig. 2, so as not to interfere with the breeding of the female fowl. While I have described the various straps l8, I9, 28, 2|, 22,, and 24 as made of strip material folded back upon itself to provide a strap of two thicknesses, it is obvious that such straps may be made by several folds to produce a mu1tiplicity oflayers or fold thicknesses. These straps maybe made of any suitable flexible material.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my fowl mating saddle without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In a fowl saddle, a flexible sheet member, a forwardly positioned loop member secured to each side portion of said flexible sheet member, two spaced apart wing straps each secured at its inner end to the forward end of said flexible sheet member, one of said wing straps extending forwardly, to the left and then rearwardly to pass through one of said loops and the other said wing strap extending forwardly to the right, and then rearwardly to pass through the other said loop, and a means for securing the outer ends of each of said wing straps to said flexible sheet member at a point substantially rearward of the loop through which it passes.

2. In a fowl saddle, a flexible sheet member, a forwardly positioned loop member secured to each side portion of said flexible sheet member, two spaced apart wing straps each secured at its inner end to the forward end of said flexible sheetmember, one of said wing straps extending forwardly, to the left and then rearwardly to pass through one of said loops and the other said wing strap extending forwardly, to the right, and then rearwardly to pass through the other said loop, a means for securing the outer ends of each of said wing straps to said flexible sheet member at a point substantially rearward of the loop through which it passes, and a latch means on each of said wing straps for preventing the accidental forward sliding of the strap in the loop that embraces it.

3. In a fowl saddle, a flexible sheet member, a forwardly positioned loop member secured to each side portion of said flexible sheet member, two spaced apart wing straps each secured at its inner end to the forward end of said flexible sheet member, one of said wing straps extending forwardly, to the left and then rearwardly to pass through one of said loops and the other said wing strap extending forwardly, to the right, and then rearwardly to pass through the other said loop, a means for securing the outer ends of each of said wing straps to said flexible sheet member at a point substantially rearward of the loop through which it passes, and a means for increasing the thickness of each of said wing straps just rear of the loop that embraces it.

l. In a fowl saddle, a flexible sheet member, a forwardly positioned loop member secured to each side portion of said flexible sheet member, two spaced apart wing straps each secured at its inner end to the forward end of said flexible sheet member, one of said wing straps extending forwardly, to the left and then rearwardly to pass through one of said loops and the other said wing strap extending forwardly, to the right, and then rearwardly to pass through the other said loop, a means for securing the outer ends of each of said wing straps to said flexible sheet member at a point substantially rearward of the loop through which it passes, and a means for increasing the thickness of each of said wing straps just rear of the loop that embraces it; said flexible sheet member, loops, and wing straps being of substantially the same flexible material.

5. In a fowl saddle, a flexible sheet member, a forwardly positioned loop member secured to each side portion of said flexible sheet member,

two spaced apart wing straps each secured at 7 its inner end to the forward end of said flexible sheet member, one of said wing straps extending forwardly, to the left, and then rearwardly to pass through one of said loops and the other said wing strap extending forwardly, to the right, and then rearwardly to pass through the other said loop, a means for securing the outer ends of each of said wing straps to said flexible sheet member at a point substantially rearward of the loop through which it passes; said wing straps each being constructed of a single strip of flexible material folded back upon itself along its longitudinal axis with its side edges extending away from the wings of the fowl user, and stitching at the outer side edges of each of the straps whereby the folded unstitched side of each of said straps forms a cushioned strap portion to prevent chafing of the fowl.

6. In a fowl saddle, a flexible sheet member provided with a centrally located concave forward edge and a concave edge at each side of said centrally located concave edge, a loop member secured to each flexible sheet member adjacent the outer edge of each of said concave edge portions that reside at the side of said centrally located concave edge portion, two wing straps secured to the forward end of said flexible sheet member adjacent each side of said centrally located concave edge respectively; one of said wing straps extending forwardly, to the left and then rearwardly to pass through one of said loops and the other said wing strap extending forwardly, to the right, and then rearwardly to pass through the other said loop, and a means for securing the outer ends of each of said wing straps to said flexible sheet member at a point substantially rearward of the loop through which it passes; said wing straps each being constructed of a single strip of flexible material folded back upon itself along its longitudinal axis with its side edges extending away from the wings of the fowl user, and said side edges secured together whereby the folded unstitched side of each of said straps forms a cushioned strap portion to prevent chafing of the fowl.

7. In a fowl saddle, a flexible sheet member, a forwardly positioned loop member secured to each side of said flexible sheet member, two spaced apart straps secured across the longitudinal top of said flexible sheet member thence forward of the front end of said flexible member to form wing straps; one of said wing straps extending forwardly, to the left and then rearwardly to pass through one of said loops and the other said wing strap extending forwardly, to the right, and then rearwardly to pass through the other said loop, and a means for securing the outer ends of each of said wing straps to said flexible sheet member at a point substantially rearward of the loop through which it passes.

8. In a fowl saddle, a flexible sheet member, a forwardly positioned loop member secured to each side of said flexible sheet member, two spaced apart straps secured across the longitudinal top of said flexible sheet member thence forward of the front end of said flexible member to form wing straps; one of said Wing straps extending forwardly, to the left and then rearwardly to pass through one of said loops and the other said wing strap extending forwardly, to the right, and then rearwardly to pass through the other said loop; each of said straps forwardly of said flexible member being folded back upon itself along its longitudinal axis and having its side edges stitched together whereby the folded unstitched side of each of said straps forms a cushioned strap portion to prevent chafing of the fowl, a means for securing the outer ends of each of said wing straps to said flexible sheet member at a point substantially rearward of the loop through which it passes, and a strap member secured on the top of said flexible sheet member extending transversely of its longitudinal length. A

CLARENCE L. NEELYv REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,293,895 Fitzloff Aug. 25, 1942 2,416,726 Abramson Mar. 4, 1947 

